Take a peek at the world's most unusual homes

Sick of red brick Californian bungalows and tastefully renovated federation-era terraces? Sometimes we all want something a bit different, and here are a selection of Gehry-free homes that celebrate that desire to live outside the box.

Grünwald, Munich

 

For sale for US$23.5 million ($33.5 million) through
Christie’s International Real Estate, this uniquely rounded and organic home has no window or door the same.

The Cincinnati Mushroom house

Photo: Zillow.com

As featured on Atlas Obscura, and as Zillow’s house of the week, this rather distinctive home in Ohio is the work of architecture professor Terry Brown and 35 former students from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. It took more than 10 years to complete.

The Sculptured House, Denver

The Sculptured House. Photo: House-crazy.com

Having appeared in several movies – including Woody Allen’s Sleeper – the Sculptured House in Denver, Colorado was built in 1963, although architect Charles Deaton’s plans for the interior were not completed. It sold for US$1.5 million at a foreclosure auction in 2010.

Osros Floating Island

It’s also not that unusual to see a private island for sale, but an entirely man-made one built by an Austrian company and which  comes with room for staff and an “autonomous power supply based energy system”, is less common. The official website gives a 18-24 month delivery time for each individual, custom-built floating island home, of which there are no prototypes.

Strongs Point, Florida

Castle-like home In Sarasota, Florida.

OK, so houses shaped like castles aren’t that unusual, but this one in Florida is quite well done, complete with drawbridge over a moat and hand-painted Moorish arches. It could be yours for $US2.3 million.

Lauri Svedberg’s Minnesota home

Pineapple House

The Pineapple House Photos: nts.org.uk

Turns out Australia’s Sunshine Coast wasn’t the first place to get a big pineapple. The Pineapple House in Dunmore, Scotland  was built in the late 18th Century and has a 14-metre high folly described by Wikipedia as being a “remarkably accurate depiction of a pineapple”. The Pineapple and its surroundings are now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

The Calico House

Kat O’Sullivan’s home, The Calico House, in upstate New York, has been described as a work in progress. She bought the property with her boyfriend in 2009. 

Bulgaria’s Snail house

The Snail House Photo: lostateminor.com

None of your neighbours live in a giant rainbow snail, do they? There’s a fair chance it’d be the only one on any street. Architect Simeon Simeonovdesigned the five-storey private home, which has no straight walls or edges and was constructed from environmentally friendly materials. 

‘Flintstone House’, California

The ‘Flintstone House’. Photo: Judy Meuschke-San Francisco and Peninsula Realtor – Facebook.

Also known as the Barbapapa House, this property was designed by architect William Nicholson and built in 1976. It’s located along the I-280 highway out of San Francisco and is somewhat of a local landmark. The SFGate reports that it fell into disrepair in the 1980s, but was remodelled in the 2000s and is now on the market for $5,460,360 (US$4.2 million) via Judy Meuschke-San Francisco and Peninsula Realtor, having last sold in 1996.

Hollander House, Newport

Hollander House. Photo: MH Studio.

Finally – and a bit closer to home – Hollander House in Sydney was designed in 1969, completed in 1970 and is one of the city’s best examples of organic architecture. It went on the market in 2014 and was sold through Modern House.